CFD investigation on the flow and combustion in a 300 MWe tangentially fired pulverized-coal furnace

International audienceThe characteristics of the flow, combustion and temperature in a 300 MWe tangentially fired pulverized-coal furnace are numerically studied using computational fluid dynamics. The mathematical model is based on a Eulerian description for the continuum phase and a Lagrangian description for coal particles. The combustion reaction scheme was modeled using eddy dissipation concept. The application of a proper turbulence model is mandatory to generate accurate predictions of flow and heat transfer during combustion. The current work presents a comparative study to identify the suitable turbulence model for tangentially fired furnace problem. Three turbulence models including the standard k-epsilon model, the RNG k-epsilon model and the Reynolds Stress model, RSM are examined. The predictions are compared with the published experimental data of Zheng et al. (Proc Combust Inst 29: 811-818, 2002). The RNG k-epsilon model proves to be the most suitable turbulence model, offering a satisfactory prediction of the velocity, temperature and species fields. The detailed results presented in this paper may enhance the understanding of complex flow patterns and combustion processes in tangentially fired pulverized-coal furnaces